Family Found
by aerococonut
Summary: While cleaning the Wright Anything Agency, Pearl finds an old newspaper clipping of Iris, leading her to mourn her lack of family. Fortunately, Phoenix explains that she already has a family. She just needs to realise it.


**A/N:** This is the fourth of my 52 stories prompts. I am still working on the third prompt, which has changed into a multichaptered fic. The idea is too good to waste though, so stay tuned!

…

Picking up yet another miscellaneous piece of paper, Pearl Fey sighed. As much as she loved coming into the city, she always ended up cleaning the Wright Anything Agency. Despite being told multiple times by everyone not to bother, it was just ingrained in her. Everything had to be tidy.

When Mr. Nick had disappeared to meet Mr. Edgeworth, and Trucy said she had to go deliver something, Pearl had gotten to work. Mr. Nick managed to collect a lot of things, she thought disparagingly. She proceeded to toss the paper into the rubbish pile, after discerning it had no important information on it. So far, she'd already managed to fill three bags with stuff to be thrown, and she'd only been cleaning for a couple of hours.

She picked up an old newspaper and froze. It was an old _Oh! Cult!_ Issue, and was folded over to reveal an image of two nuns. One of them was Pearl's sister, Iris Hawthorne. The sister she'd never known she had until Iris was put on trial for Mystic Misty's murder. She fought down the urge to cry, wiping her eyes on the sleeve of her robe. With one finger, she traced the black and white image of Iris, looking for the similarities between the face on the page and her own. Learning she had two sisters she'd never know had hurt. Finding out that one was a murderer and the other was a liar had overwhelmed her. Her mother had betrayed her in so many ways.

Pearl put the image aside, sniffing. The only family she had left now was Mystic Maya.

Maybe her family was cursed, she thought, clenching her fists. So far, being a member of a Fey branch family only brought agony, as far as Pearl was concerned. Even though Mystic Maya and Mr. Nick had told her nothing was her fault, she still felt guilty. If it wasn't for her…

The door swung open, startling Pearl out of her thoughts. She scrubbed any lingering moisture off her cheeks and turned to face the newcomer.

Mr. Nick walked in, humming to himself. When he saw Pearl, his face lit up. "Ahh, Pearls! Hope you weren't too lonely while I was gone." He looked closer, and his expression changed to a frown. "Pearls, are you alright?" He rested a hand on her shoulder, staring at her in concern.

To Pearl's dismay, she sniffled loudly. Shaking her head, she let him draw her into a hug. "I'm sorry Mr. Nick, I don't want to inconvenience you." His body was warm, and his arms wrapped around her were reassuring. She'd never known her father, but Mr. Nick sort of filled that role for her.

"Pearls!" Mr. Nick said, exasperated. "You are never an inconvenience! Look, you've spent all this time cleaning my office!" He hugged her tighter, rubbing warm circles across her back. Pulling back enough to see her face, he gave her a smile. "Now, why don't you tell me what's bothering you?"

She nodded and took a breath. "I saw the old newspaper – the one with Iris in it," she said, her words halting. "And it made me remember how my – my sisters…well, they're not really sisters are they? I never knew them." She couldn't articulate what she wanted; the pain of being used, the loss she felt knowing she was missing entire pieces of her family. "I…Mystic Maya's the only family I have left. I can't help but feel…like I'm going to lose her too." The tears she'd been fighting off starting falling. "Everyone else leaves me-"

"Pearls!" Mr. Nick interrupted, grabbing her and pulling her into his arms again. "That's not true! Do you really think Maya's your only family, when you have me and Trucy?" He grabbed both her shoulders and shook them gently. His eyes were full of concern. "Pearls, you know we love you, right? You're not alone, and you never will be."

She gave a heaving sob and flung her arms around her neck. "I know Mr. Nick, I just…sometimes I hate being a Fey." She'd never asked to be born into a branch of the Fey family, and given the choice, she'd rather go to school with Trucy and do something exciting with her life. Instead, she was trapped being Mystic Maya's heir until Maya had a daughter of her own. "I have no choice, I'm stuck like this. I had two sisters who could have taken my place, and they're both unable to do it. So I'm the only one left. What if I wanted to leave Kurain and do something else!" She was yelling now, her voice cracking with emotion.

Mr. Nick didn't say anything for a few moments, just letting Pearl cry against his shoulder. "Hey," he said finally. "You know, being a Fey doesn't mean you can't leave Kurain." He nodded his head towards his desk. "Mia left, after all. She chose to become a lawyer instead."

Pearl drew back, her gaze flicking over to the photo of Mia on the desk. "But then if I leave, who would be Mystic Maya's heir?" She'd had duty drilled into her since she was born. How could she abandon it now?

"Who cares," Mr. Nick shrugged. "That doesn't have to be your problem, Pearls. You're allowed to choose your own life. If that means you don't want to channel spirits anymore, then don't!" He spoke like this was the obvious choice. "Maya's not going to hate you for doing what you want to do, Pearls. If anything, I think she'd be happy to see you having fun."

"I don't want to let her down," Pearl said in a small voice. So many times, she'd had to rely on Mystic Maya or Mr. Nick to rescue her. She was tired of being a burden to everyone, and being Mystic Maya's heir was something she _could_ do.

Mr. Nick rubbed his jaw. "You've never let us down, Pearls." He stood up and headed into the kitchen. Returning with a glass of water, he passed it to her and sat back down. "Now, what do you want to do?"

She covered her mouth with her hand, her brows furrowing. "I don't really know, Mr. Nick." Hunching her shoulders, she bit her lip. Her biggest desire was to be _normal_. "I want to go to school, and maybe work a part time job," she admitted, voice barely more than a whisper. Pearl toyed with the hem of her robes. "Things normal people my age do."

"Ah, I see." He nodded, looking thoughtful. "Well, when was the last time you had a holiday?"

Pearl blinked, wondering at the subject change. "I haven't really had a holiday, Mr. Nick. Sometimes I come visit you and Trucy, but I haven't been anywhere else."

He snapped his fingers and pointed at her. "There you go, then!" he announced. "You're going to have an extended holiday here." Mr. Nick waved a hand, almost hitting the couch. "Maybe six months? We'll enrol you in school with Trucy and you can find a part time job." Placing his hands on his hips, Mr. Nick grinned. "I'm sure I can talk Maya into it. You need a break sometimes, Pearls."

She covered her face with her hands, peeking out between her fingers. "You'd really do that for me?" Pearl bounced to her feet. "I would love to stay here! Please talk Mystic Maya into it. I'll clean the place top to bottom in return!" She rolled up her sleeves.

Mr. Nick sighed, holding up his hands. "Pearls, please! You don't have to clean every time you're here!" He stood up and frowned, one hand resting against his chin. "We're going to have to find you a bed though, since you're staying for longer this time."

"I'll be fine!" Pearl said quickly, clapping her hands and giving him a smile. "I can sleep on the floor like I normally do." She wasn't going to do anything that might jinx this opportunity. It would be like a very long sleepover. Pearl wondered if she could convince Mr. Nick to let her stay on Trucy's floor the entire time.

"Hmm, I think we'll look for other options as well, but for now, I guess that's fine." Mr. Nick leaned against the couch, one hand pulling out his phone. "First of all, I should probably make sure this is alright with Maya. What do you say?"

Pearl grinned and bowed. "Go for it!" She straightened up and went back to the pile of papers left on the ground. Picking up the newspaper with Iris' picture, she stopped and stared at it.

"Do you…want to know more about them?" Mr. Nick asked hesitantly, putting the phone down. "I could tell you what I knew if it helps. I mean, I don't know much, and half of it turned out to be wrong anyway but…would it help?"

Pearl clasped her hands together and shook her head. She found herself smiling. "No thank you, Mr. Nick. I don't need to know about them, because they aren't really family. You, and Mystic Maya, and Trucy, and everyone else who cares about me is family."

"True words of wisdom," Mr. Nick laughed. "Now, why don't you come with me and Trucy to Eldoon's tonight? We'll have a real family dinner."

Pearl hugged him, unable to believe how lucky she was. "Thank you for everything, Mr. Nick," she said softly, standing back.

He winked at her and went to ring Maya.

Surveying the mess in front of her, Pearl rolled up her sleeves and got to work. This mess wasn't going to clean itself!


End file.
